WITH soaring house prices and young people struggling to get on the ladder, one Herefordshire man’s building acumen could be just the answer.

Marc Swan has designed a ‘plastic’ house in his back garden, and it ticks all the boxes. It’s an attractive, well-designed building, with all the necessary mod cons. More than that, the Swan mini house is likely to cost just £25,000.

This is not a flight of fancy for Mr Swan, whose Victorian ancestor, Sir Joseph Wilson Swan developed the first electric light bulb. Sir Joseph’s great-great-grandson has been inventive in his own way, creating a series of remarkable living spaces using inexpensive and recycled materials.

His ‘Natural Trust showman’s ship’ is a spectacular home-made house on wheels named after his illustrious forbearer – with tin can light holders and stained glass windows made from marbles. His latest scheme, at his home in Kingsland, is no less remarkable.

The sturdy walls are built with polystyrene reinforced with two coats of cement. “One of sand, one of cement,” he explained. “It becomes like metal.”

Light filters into the little house through reclaimed windows, and he has created a dovecote design in the gable end.

“This latest project is my last go at 70!” says Mr Swan, who has spent nearly 50 years renovating old buildings.

“Architecture is just money, what I love are little vernacular buildings, built out of necessity,” he said.

He calls his own home ‘Poverty’, and photographs show the sorry state of dilapidation he bravely took on.

With the kind of dexterity he developed while running his former enterprise, Swan & Partners, Rebuilders, he has made Poverty a habitable home.

“It is unique, as all old timber-frames in Herefordshire are, and competently made.” He is fascinated to find quirky, but efficient touches in ancient cottages.

“You might find a hammered out tobacco tin lid neatly tacked over a hole to keep out rats or mice, or paper placed down a door to stop draughts,” he said. “It’s all part of the house.”

Mr Swan dislikes the predictability of modern building styles. “There’s nothing wonky, it’s all steel and straight,” he said.

By contrast, his ‘plastic’ house offers charm and practicality, and weighing less than “two or three tons”, it can be moved. Mr Swan believes the compact home could provide solutions for refugees seeking sanctuary, as well as easing the current housing crisis.

He plans to hold an open day at his home, to show what could be available at a fraction of current house prices.